18.

HAUNTED

With the success of Grammy and BRIT Awards triumphs behind her and love fully in bloom, Adele began addressing the issue of a new place to call home. An admitted city girl with deep London roots, Adele had long been convinced that she would never leave the hustle and bustle of London. But she had come to realize, in the aftermath of her surgery scare, that the pollution inherent in the big city could have long-term consequences for her health and, particularly, her voice.

There was also the strong desire to live closer to Simon, who lived in nearby Brighton Beach.

Truth be known, Adele was probably also looking to exercise her considerable wealth and was looking for a purchase of a home as a sign that she had really arrived as a celebrity.

Adele was being particular in what she wanted to purchase, but she soon found the perfect transition home, a twenty-five-acre estate in West Sussex that once served as a convent. What Adele found was that any sense of a religious structure had long since been replaced by a tennis court, a helicopter pad, two swimming pools, a media center, and a ten-room mansion. It went without saying that Simon would be a regular visitor at the mammoth estate. Adele was keen on the history of the estate and the many acres of land and felt she could do worse in a rental for a transitional home.

Adele paid $24,000 a month in rent on the property, which was valued at $11 million.

Adele felt she was in paradise as she wandered the halls and inspected more rooms under one roof than she had ever seen. But paradise would only last a few days.

Alone in the sprawling mansion, Adele soon began to hear things that, she told The Sun, “made her jump.” In her rush to escape the city, the singer had not considered the possibility that her new home might be haunted. But when she began hearing the noises in the night, her imagination and fear took over her thinking. She insisted that she could not spend another night in the house alone and hired a former chauffeur-turned-bodyguard to move into the house with her and to be at her side wherever she went.

As if the possible ghosts were not enough, Adele found out soon after moving in that a public walkway literally ran right past her front door. Adele had gotten used to the reality of being a celebrity and the fact that paparazzi would literally be camped at her front door when she lived in the city. But now, with a sudden increase in concern about her safety, Adele went out and hired a full-time security staff to patrol her sprawling estate and be a constant presence at her home.

Her dream house was suddenly turning into a much larger expense and headache than she had bargained for.

In what appeared to be a half-serious attempt at dealing with the ghost issue, Adele rang up her friend, singer Robbie Williams, who was an avid follower of all things paranormal, and suggested that Williams and his wife come down for a ghost-hunting expedition on the grounds. The offer garnered a lot of press, but Williams never took her up on it.

The added security measures did not help Adele’s fragile state of mind, and it was only a matter of weeks before she was once again looking for another home.

Before she had settled on her rental, Adele had spent some months looking into buying a house in the beachside community of Brighton. As this was where Simon lived, such a move seemed to make perfect sense. But Brighton was pricey and Adele, initially, did not feel comfortable with the hefty price tag a purchase like that would bring. But this time around, money was seemingly no object as she laid out a reported $5 million for a house with what had been described as a “gorgeous” view of the ocean. A house that did not contain ghosts.

Adele was so excited by the purchase that she began telling anyone who would listen about her grand plans for the house. She was going to plant a vegetable garden, lay down a concrete walkway, and along the way …

“Get married and have some kids,” she told the Mirror.

Much was made of the purchase and the fact that Adele and Simon would now be together in the lap of luxury and relationship bliss. But what the purchase ultimately represented went much deeper than that for Adele.

For the young girl who grew up in modest flats and with limited means, the house represented the fact that she had overcome the odds and, through her talent, had arrived at the pinnacle of success.

For Adele, the welcome mat was truly out.